We claim the earlier effective filing date of co-pending U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/449,271, entitled “Unmanned Ground Vehicle,” filed Feb. 21, 2003, in the name of Michael S. Beck, et al., for all common subject matter.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to an articulated suspension system for use in a vehicle and, more particularly, to a shoulder joint for an articulated suspension system.
2. Description of the Related Art
One fundamental part of any ground vehicle is the suspension, or that part of the vehicle's undercarriage that absorbs and/or dampens perturbations in the surface being traversed. For instance, many passenger vehicles employ shock absorbers and leaf springs to help absorb perturbations and smooth the ride for the passengers. Environmental characteristics and conditions that cause such perturbations are generically referred to as “obstacles.” Obstacles may be positive, e.g., a bump in the road, or negative, e.g., a hole or trench in the road. Vehicle suspensions systems are typically designed to handle both positive and negative obstacles within predetermined limits.
The design process for a suspension system, like any engineering design effort, involves numerous performance tradeoffs depending on many factors. For instance, a car and a truck, while both passenger vehicles, may be used for different purposes—namely, transporting people and cargo, respectively. Suspensions for cars and trucks are therefore designed differently, and it is common knowledge that stiffer truck suspensions do not provide as smooth a ride as do car suspensions.
For some classes of vehicles, suspension design is somewhat more difficult than for others because of intended operating conditions. Most passenger vehicles are designed for operation on relatively smooth, constant surfaces such that obstacle negotiation is not much of an issue. However, some vehicles are intended for much harsher environments. Exemplary of this class are military vehicles, which are typically designed to overcome extreme obstacles, and typically the more extreme the better.
The present invention is directed to resolving, or at least reducing, one or all of the problems mentioned above.